For the promotion and dissemination of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in the Archdiocese of Malta and the Diocese of Gozo, as endorsed by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI (2007) and in the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae (2011). This goes hand in hand with what the Second Vatican Council stated in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium of 1963: Linguae latinae usus, salvo particulari iure, in ritibus latinis servetur.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Way back in 1967,theologian Fr Joseph
Ratzinger wrote about the Tridentine Mass. This was soon after the
closing of Vatican II. Below is an excerpt in which Ratzinger analyses
the Tridentine Mass as established by the Council of Trent:

Fr Joseph Ratzinger in 1971

The [liturgical] additions of the late Middle Ages were eliminated, and
at the same time severe measures were adopted to prevent a rebirth. ....
At that time, the fate of the Western liturgy was linked to a set
authority, which worked in a strictly bureaucratic way, lacking any
historic vision and considering the problem of the liturgy from the sole
viewpoint of rubrics and ceremonies, like a problem of etiquette in a
saint's court, so to speak.
As a consequence of this link, there was a complete archeologisation of
the liturgy, which from the state of a living history was changed into
that of pure conservation and, therefore, condemned to an internal
death. Liturgy became once and forever a closed construction, firmly
petrified. The more it was concerned about the integrity of pre-existent
formulas, the more it lost its connection to concrete devotions ....
In this situation, the baroque carved it [the liturgy] superimposing a
people's para-liturgy over its true and proper archeologized liturgy.
The solemn baroque mass, through the splendor of the orchestra's
performance, became a kind of sacred opera, in which the songs of the
priest had their role as did the alternating recitals. .... On the
ordinary days that did not allow such a performance, devotions that
followed the people's mentality were often added to the mass.
(Source: Ratzinger J., Problemi e risultati del Concilio Vaticano II, Brescia: Queriniana, 1967, pp. 25-27)

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Five years ago today, Pope
Benedict XVI led a solemn Mass during which he baptised 13 babies at
the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He celebrated parts of the Mass with his back
turned on the congregation, a gesture that did not pass unnoticed. Pope Benedict, in this way, re-introduced a visible aspect of the Tridentine Mass. He used the Sistine Chapel's ancient
altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo's dramatic depiction
of the Last Judgement, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform
that allowed his predecessor Blessed John Paul II to face the faithful. Benedict XVI
also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar
used by Blessed Pius IX in the 19th century.

This event had been preceded a few months earlier by the promulgation of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing
a wider use of the Tridentine Mass. In the same period Benedict XVI had also said he would like the centuries-old
Gregorian chant to make a comeback. Communion, during Papal Masses, started being given on the mouth and kneeling too.

All these gestures by His Holiness were meant as a signal to bishops around the world on the way forward for the Catholic Church. Whether these were taken on board is another story.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Dr.
Eric M. de Saventhem, President
of the International Federation Una Voce

Dr. de
Saventhem:Excellency, it is known that
you were in Rome on
the 10th and 11th January for further discussions with Cardinal
Seper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Was it at Pope John Paul’s request that the Cardinal received you?

Mgr.
Lefebvre:There has been some misunderstanding
on this matter. It is true that an investigation has been in progress
since January, 1978, and that it was to be continued by talks in
Rome. Meanwhile, during the audience, the Holy Father, Pope John
Paul II, assigned to Cardinal Seper, as to a trusted friend, the
question of Ecône. It does not seem that he had in mind a procedure
already in progress, hence the misunderstanding.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Have you been interrogated?

Mgr.
Lefebvre:Yes, twice, for three-hour periods.
Seventeen series of questions by five interrogators accompanied
by a secretary; but I was refused permission to bring even one witness.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Early in January, a large circulation
American magazine stated that, during the audience of the 18th November
last, the Holy Father confronted you with an ultimatum: either you
submitted to the Pope, or else you left the Church. Since then numerous
papers have repeated the, burden of that report, as if your excommunication
was imminent.

Mgr.
Lefebvre: That is pure invention. The object
of the discussions, I suppose, was to clarify the position with
a view to finding a solution.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Nevertheless, the report that the Pope
might soon lift the canonical sanctions imposed on you has not been
confirmed. In fact, one wonders how the a divinis suspension
could be lifted unless you agreed to refrain forever from ordaining
seminarians without dimissorial letters.

Mgr.
Lefebvre: This problem arises from the canonical
status of our confraternity. The ordinations branded by some as
"wildcat" had become necessary from the moment when the
Secretariat of State, in a circular letter to all Episcopal Conferences,
forbade diocesan bishops to incardinate our seminarians: and to
give them dimissorial letters. This prohibition is an encroachment
without precedent on one of the oldest episcopal prerogatives. Without
it we would always have found resident bishops willing to regularize
the canonical status of our young men. In order to solve this problem,
it would be sufficient for our Society to be recognized as coming
directly under pontifical authority.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Would not such an official recognition
imply that you had previously answered Pope Paul's priority request
to you to declare publicly your sincere adherence to the Second
Ecumenical Council of the Vatican
and to all its texts?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: In reply to that request I had already
written the following to Pope Paul VI: "I accept everything
that, in the Council and its reforms, is in full agreement with
Tradition." I have never been told why this declaration was
considered inadequate; After all, a Catholic can adhere to the texts
of a Council only in the light of the continuing constant teaching
of the Church. That is a fundamental principle of the Catholic Faith,
and my very clear impression is that, under Pope John Paul II, we
shall see it confirmed; as much in the interpretation as in the
application of conciliar texts.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Did you discuss this matter with the
Holy Father during your audience?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: I am thinking rather about what
he declared publicly in his very first message to the world after
the election. Referring to the conciliar Magna Carta – the
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – the Pope said that it must
be read in "the light of tradition," and that we must
"integrate into it the dogmatic formulations laid down by the
First Vatican Council." Only thus would the text become for
all, priests and faithful, "the secret of an unerring orientation."
If I were asked to declare my adherence to the conciliar texts "read
in the light of tradition and integrated with the dogmatic formulations
previously laid down by the Magisterium of the Church," I would
sign without hesitation.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Have you, in fact, signed a text of
this nature, either before the audience with the Holy Father, or
during your discussions with Cardinal Seper?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: I can say that, in the course
of the audience, the Pope accepted that declaration regarding the
Council, and that it will be signed with Cardinal Seper at some
time.

Dr. de
Saventhem: Excellency, your confraternity now
runs not only seminaries; but a dozen priories and two convents.
All these institutions continue their liturgical life notwithstanding
the rule of conduct promulgated by Pope Paul VI. Moreover, they
refuse to conform with the "new orientations" adopted
almost everywhere else. Even if Rome
were willing to allow you to perform "the experiment of tradition,"
is there not a risk that, at diocesan government level, very serious
problems would arise?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: Let us begin with liturgical norms.
They should, and could be made more flexible; that is the sole responsibility
of the Holy See. With regard to the Mass, Pope Paul VI certainly
never officially forbade the use of the Old Rite. Indeed, Mr. President,
it was thanks to your wife that we have had oral confirmation of
this from Cardinal Benelli himself.

* On the other hand,
it is known that a good number of cardinals and bishops have expressed
the desire to see the pre-conciliar rites re-admitted everywhere.
Without doubt, there would be local problems, but there would also
be the immense relief of numerous priests and faithful on recovering
traditional rites and the devotion that accompanies them. Bishops
would straightway experience the benefit to their dioceses. I dare
to hope that the new Pope, in his pastoral solicitude, will not
long delay this conciliatory gesture.

Dr. de
Saventhem: There still remain the various post-conciliar
"orientations" which Your Excellency has stigmatized as
incompatible with the tradition and Magisterium of the Church and
which your confraternity resolutely continues to oppose. Would you
say that the claim that these orientations are derived from Vatican
II is exaggerated?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: It is true that in many fields
– ecumenism: the institutions of the Church; liturgy; reform of
seminaries and of religious life - the standards set by the Council
have been left far behind. In their application, the new orientations
have been used as a pretext for leaping into "creativity"
and continuous evolution.

Dr. de
Saventhem: There are nevertheless other new orientations
manifestly favored by the Council. I am thinking especially of the
so-called liturgical renewal.

Mgr.
Lefebvre: I think I can state that all the
novel orientations were favored by the spirit of the Council, as
well as by the too often ambiguous written word. The liberal spirit
of the Council, by its nature, leads to compromise with the spirit
of man and of the modern world-which is in opposition to the Catholic
spirit. That is especially the case in documents such as those on
religious liberty; on the Church in the world and on non-Christian
religions. Our fidelity to the Church prompts us to labor resolutely
and patiently for a return to her great traditions. Our priories
might be seen as beacons to mark our way on the long road ahead
of us.

Dr. de
Saventhem:Have you found, in your conversations
with him, Cardinal Seper open to the ideas you have just expressed?

Mgr.
Lefebvre: I value the Cardinal's sincerity
very highly and I hope that he will seize the opportunity given
to him by the Holy Father to manifest courageously the attachment
which he certainly has for Tradition; but about which he has deemed
it right, in obedience, to maintain silence during the last years.
Millions of Catholics await with longing the application of religious
freedom to the centuries-old tradition of the Church.

Dr. de
Saventhem: In thanking you, Excellency, for this interview,
I take the liberty, on behalf of those millions of Catholics, of
assuring you and His Eminence Cardinal Seper of our most fervent
prayers.

Originally published in Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, Vol. II (1983) by Michael Davies, who later became the second President of FIUV.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Blessed John Paul II himself has indicated the criteria that should
orient “the dynamics of the teaching” of the Second Vatican Council, (1) which are
neither limited to a simple literal assessment of the documents, already
quite delicate, nor to a static doctrine. They are:

1. “This universal Council is a kind of milestone, an event of the
utmost importance in the two thousand year history of the Church and,
consequently, in the religious and cultural history of the world.”
(2)

2. “The Council must be understood in its continuity with the great
tradition of the Church, but at the same time we must receive from the
doctrine of the Council a light for the Church of today,”
(3) and “in accordance with the demands placed on it by the ‘signs of
the times.’”
(4)

3. “Just as the Council is not limited to the documents alone, neither is it completed by the applications that were devised in
the years of its unfolding.”
(5) “A new period opens to our eyes. It is the time of the profound unfolding of the conciliar teachings.”
(6)

4. “It is necessary, above all, that our minds be in harmony with the
Council so that
putting into practice those things that were ordered by it, those
things hidden in it – or as it is generally said, implicit in it – may
become explicit in the light of
the actual experiences and demands of new circumstances.” (7)

5. “It is urgent that the fertile seeds which the Fathers of the
Ecumenical Council, inspired by the Word of God, sowed in the good
ground (Mt 13:8-23) – that is, the important teachings and pastoral
deliberations – should sprout in a dynamic and living style.” (8)

6. “The Council … has defined what the mission of the Church is in this
actual stage of History.” We must “concentrate all our efforts on the
correct - that is to say, authentic - interpretation of the conciliar
magisterium as the indispensable foundation for the subsequent
self-realization of the Church.” (9)

7. “The theological interpretation of the conciliar doctrine must take
into consideration all the documents in themselves and in their relation
with the others, which will allow the exposition of the proposals of
the Council in their complete meaning and full context. Special
attention must be given to the four major Constitutions, keys to the
interpretation of the other Decrees and Declarations.” (10)

8. The Church has traced the principles of her action in the fundamental Declaration Dignitatis humanae
of Vatican Council II, and it is to this document that we must always
refer for a true and lasting spiritual peace within nations.” (11)

1. John Paul II employs the term in his Closing Speech of the International Congress on the Application of Vatican Council II,
Sono molto lieto (February 27, 2000, no. 5). The cited texts follow the French version given by the Vatican Information Service.
2. First radiomessage of John Paul II Urbi et Orbi – Unum solummodo verbum of October 17, 1978; in the same sense, see the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei in the form of a motu proprio, of July 2, 1988, n. 5b.
3. Final speech of the Roman Synod Exeunte coetu secundo, December 7, 1985, n. 5; in the same sense, see the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei in the form of a motu proprio, of July 2, 1988, n. 5b.
4. Speech on events of France, Dieu soit loué, June 1980.
5. Unum solummodo verbum.
6. Sono molto lieto, n. 9
7. Unum solummodo verbum.
8. Ibid.
9. Dieu soit loué.
10. Exeunte coetu secundo.
11. Ci ritroviano, speech to the sacred College of December 22, 1980, n. 8.

Adapted from an article first published in the magazine Catholica,
Paris, Spring 2009

Pro Tridentina (Malta)

Founded in August 2007 but efforts to group Maltese in favour of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite started in 2002. Pro Tridentina (Malta) became a member of the FIUV in 2009 and one of its members has served as a FIUV Councillor between November 2009 - January 2012 and December 2012 - October 2015. In 2013 the same Councillor was Assistant Treasurer of the FIUV.

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Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

The FIUV is a lay movement, and its principal aims are to ensure that the Missale Romanum (1962 edition) is maintained in the Church as one of the forms of liturgical celebration, and to safeguard and promote the use of Latin, Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony. A General Assembly is convened every two years in Rome and elections are held for the Council and Presidency. The current President is Mr Felipe Alanis from Una Voce Mexico. The Federation is recognized by the Holy See, its views are received with courtesy and respect by the relevant Roman Congregations, and its representatives are received by them in the same manner.